The Top Ten Twins Prospects: Picks 6 through 10

The first thing you'll notice about this list is that there are a lot of younger players on it. I usually don't put a lot of stock in what a player does in a short-season league or even in A-ball. It reflects, somewhat, a lack of top-end talent in the upper levels of the Twins farm system.

One Twins official made a pitch for Chris Parmelee to be included in the top ten. After strongly considering it, I decided that while Parmelee has had a good year at Class AA New Britain, he hasn't had that breakout power season yet.

How about Carlos Gutierrez? He's not even closing games at Rochester. How can I put a set up man in a top ten prospects list? And it sounds like Gutierrez is still trying to perfect a second pitch.

Then again, a few Twins prospects who would have been on this list have suffered setbacks.

You will not see Kyle Gibson on this list. He opened the year as my No. 2 prospect but any time there's a ulnar collateral ligament issue, you have to wait to see how recovery goes - and what he does after he recovers.

You will not see Alex Wimmers on this list. Wimmers, No. 6 on my list in April, was expected to move quickly through the system but severe control problems have plagued him. Wimmers looks to have solved his control issues, but he'll have to put up some impressive numbers before he returns to the top ten.

Dozier was a surprise invite to major league camp this year but appears to have gotten a lot out of the experience. He hit .322 in 49 games with Class A Fort Myers before being promoted to New Britain. He's hit .328 in 50 games there with solid plate discipline. I saw Dozier play second base for Fort Myers last season and he wasn't flashy but reliable. His arm isn't outstanding but he gets the job done. He's played more at shortstop since arriving at New Britain. Wonder why.......

The Twins feel they have a fast mover on their hands in Boer, who was selected in the second round in the June draft. Boer was assigned to Elizabethton, where he went 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA and nine saves. In 17.1 innings, he walked just two batters while striking out a whopping 31. He recently was promoted to Beloit, pretty impressive for someone who just became a pro. The Eden Prairie native has a fastball that reaches 93-95 miles an hour and a sharp breaking slider. Looks like he's a closer in the making.

Morales has played in just 13 games because of elbow surgery but has come on of late, batting .342 over his last ten games. He's another multi-tooled outfielder the Twins are high on. I saw him play last year for Fort Myers,and he's one of those players who just looks a little better than those around him. It's about time for him to put together a big season at the plate.

He recently was moved to the bullpen, but only because he's close to his innings limit for the season. He threw 93 innings last year, and the Twins don't want to him to make too big of a jump in workload. Salcedo's fastball is clocked in the low 90's but has very good movement and opponents have a hard time squaring it up. Four homers off him in 123.2 innings is pretty impressive. He can change speeds, has a good, hard slider and throws plenty of strikes.

Here I go buying in on short-season success. Rosario is from a a tough part of Puerto Rico, is fearless and a five-tool talent. He was considered the best pure hitter on the island when the Twins drafted him in the fourth round in 2010 and those skills have been on display in two pro seasons. His power surge this year has been a little unexpected. He has 11 homers in 45 games, and was robbed of a 12th homer last week. So far, he's holding his own in center, too. Twins officials who have been down to E-Town rave about Miguel Sano but also bring up Rosario.

As for Sano, you'll see where I have him, and four other prospects, ranked tomorrow.

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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts. Mark Rosen borrows him occasionally for WCCO-TV.

Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.